Demon's Crest
Demon's Crest, known as Demon's Blazon: Makaimura Monshō hen (デモンズブレイゾン 魔界村 紋章編, which translates to "Demon's Blazon: Demon World Village - Crest Arc") in Japan, is a side-scrolling platform game developed and published by Capcom in 1994 for the SNES video game console. The game is part of the Gargoyle's Quest sub-series of the Ghosts 'n Goblins franchise. Story It is said that the world was once divided into two realms, one belonging to humans and one inhabited by demons. One day six magical crests, each containing power over one of the elements, fell into the Demon Realm (Makai in the Japanese version). The realm erupted into civil war as the demons fought over the crests. Thus, the Crest War raged until Firebrand, the Red Demon (Red Arremer in the Japanese Version), claimed the crests of Earth, Wind, Fire, Water and Time. In a final battle with Somulo, the Demon Dragon, for possession of the Crest of Heaven, Firebrand emerged victorious. But the cost of victory was high, as he was mortally wounded. In that moment a cunning demon named Phalanx took advantage of Firebrand’s weakness and ambushed him, stealing the Crests he’d fought so hard to gain and claiming their power as his own. Phalanx used this power to summon the Crest of Infinity but, little did he know, the Crest of Fire had been damaged in the earlier battle, (a shard of it was still in Firebrand’s possession) causing it to shatter. Phalanx was unable to attain ultimate power but still managed to bring an end to the Crest War by setting the Demon Realm ablaze (whether this was intentional or by accident was never explained). Phalanx would go on to blame the catastrophe on Firebrand, rescue all of the victims and use his newfound popularity to crown himself their ruler. Meanwhile Firebrand was imprisoned within the Coliseum, healing his wounds and biding his time until he could escape. After many years he saw his opportunity and broke free. But his path was blocked by his old foe, Somulo, who had used the remnants of the power he drew from the Crest of Heaven to revive himself. Barely surviving his rematch with the undead dragon, Firebrand emerges into a world now ruled by Phalanx. This is the beginning of his quest to reclaim the power of the Crests and take vengeance upon Phalanx once and for all. And so the story begins. Gameplay The gameplay is a mix of standard platforming, with mild RPG elements and occasional side-scrolling shooter sequences. Each level can be played multiple times, and often the player has to revisit a level with new Crests to access areas, items and bosses that he or she could not before. Levels 5 and 6 must be unlocked before being accessible. The player collects different 'crests' which, when equipped during the game, allow to change into different-ability Firebrands. Some of the possible powers are Earth, Wind and Water. The player also collects talismans, magic potions and other equipment during the journey. Characters *Firebrand is the story's anti-hero. He has the ability to tap into the power of the crests to increase his powers, or even take on entirely new forms. Support Cast *Arma is a general in service of Phalanx, this tengu-like creature has been given orders to hunt down and retrieve the Crest of Fire from Firebrand. The player encounters Arma on several occasions throughout the game, each time receiving one of the Crests he was given for safekeeping as spoils of victory (first the Crest of Earth, then the Crest of Wind, and finally the Crest of Time). Upon losing the Time Crest to Firebrand, Arma seals himself within it to help Firebrand in his quest to defeat Phalanx. *Trio the Pago is a "head-butting" game shop run by a trio of pudgy, piggish-looking businessmen. There are three different locations for this game shop, at three different difficulty levels, and a differently colored Pago corresponding to each. Their colors are Pink, Blue, and Purple, to easy, medium, and hard, respectively. *The Black Lotus is a potion shop run by the decrepit demon Phorapa. Firebrand is able to purchase potions from him of varying enhancement effects. *The Wise Man is a spell shop found in the demon realm run by Morack, a magic-wielding demon. He sells magic spells for Firebrand to carry in an empty veil. *Malwous is a knowledgeable old demon that can inform Firebrand what each Talisman can do. *Also, an unnamed vagrant demon resides by the town's fountain and will say different things depending on which crest Firebrand currently have equipped, typically remarking on how best to use any given form. Enemy Bosses *Phalanx, the arch-nemesis of Firebrand. He desires the crests for himself, so that he may summon the Crest of Infinity and obtain ultimate power to conquer both the demon realm and the human worlds. *Arma, general from Phalanx's army. *Somulo, the first boss, a dragon demon. *Hippogriff *Belth *Ovnunu *Flame Lord *Flier *Scula *Holothurion *Crawler *Grewon *Dark Demon, a secret boss that can be unlocked by finding 100% of the items in the game and defeating Phalanx. It has two different forms; a three-headed, four-armed skeletal charioteer who floats about and rains lava/lobs various projectiles, and a hovering, plasma-tailed winged form who, in addition to firing an almost undodgeable string of projectiles, causes earthquakes and gradually turns the walls of the room into spikes. It's quite a bit more difficult than the final fight against Phalanx (which is also a very hard battle), and thus a fine example of a video game superboss. Stages *Demon's Crest Stage I *Demon's Crest Stage II *Demon's Crest Stage III *Demon's Crest Stage IV *Demon's Crest Stage V *Demon's Crest Stage VI *Demon's Crest Final Stage *Demon's Crest Secret Stage Items and abilities *G.P. *Crests (and Fire Power) *Vellum (Spells) *Urn (Potions) *Talismans Gallery Demons Blazon.jpg|Japanese cover Demons Crest.jpg|European cover DemonsBlazonGuidebook.jpg|Official Guidebook (デモンズ・ブレイゾン 魔界村紋章編 公式ガイドブック) SFCKanpekiKouryakuS75.jpg|Futabasha guidebook (スーパーファミコン 完璧攻略シリーズ75 デモンズ・ブレイゾン 魔界村紋章編 必勝攻略法) SFCSpecialDemonsBlazon.jpg|Keibunsha guidebook (スーパーファミコン必勝法スペシャル デモンズ・ブレイゾン 魔界村 紋章編) External links *Demon's Crest at Video Game Den Category:Games